John H. Stringfellow (November 14, 1819 – July 24, 1905) was an early physician of Kansas, one of the founders of

Atchison Atchison may refer to: Places In the United States: * Atchison, California, a former settlement * Atchison, Kansas, a city * Atchison County, Kansas * Atchison County, Missouri People with the surname *Bob Atchison (born 1941), Canadian drag r ...

, and speaker of the house in the first territorial legislature, the pro-slavery

Bogus Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

. He was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, son of Robert Stringfellow, a farmer, veteran of the War of 1812, merchant at Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan River, and Mary Plunkett, daughter of an early industrialist in Orange County, Virginia. Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow was his younger brother. He was educated at Caroline Academy, Va., Columbia University, and graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1845. Soon after, he relocated to

Carrollton, Missouri Carrollton is a city in Carroll County, Missouri, United States. Carrollton won the 2005 All-America City Award, given out annually by the National Civic League. The population was 3,514 at the 2020 census. Carrollton is the county seat of Carro ...

, where he married Ophelia J. Simmons, niece of Missouri Governor

John C. Edwards John Cummins Edwards (June 24, 1804 – October 14, 1888) was a Democratic politician from the state of Missouri. He served as a member of the 27th United States Congress as well as the 9th Governor of Missouri. Early life John Cummins Edward ...

. During the cholera epidemic of 1849, when every boat coming up the river unloaded cholera patients, he converted a large warehouse into a hospital and devoted three months to caring for them. In 1852 he removed to

Platte City Platte City is a city in and the county seat of Platte County, Missouri within the United States. The population was 4,691 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. History Platte City was founded by Zadock ...

. Upon the organization of

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

in 1854 he crossed the Missouri River, selected a claim, and in connection with some friends formed a town company which laid out the town of Atchison. In 1854 he brought his family and lived in Atchison until 1858. He was the founder and editor of the pro-slavery '' Squatter Sovereign'', the first newspaper in Atchison, and was commissioned colonel of the Third regiment of the territorial militia by Gov. Shannon. He was called to Virginia by the death of his father in 1858 and was detained there until after the opening of the Civil War. He entered the Confederate service as captain of a Virginia company, but was at once detailed as surgeon and acted in that capacity only. In 1871 he returned to Atchison and remained there until 1876. He then moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he died on July 24, 1905.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stringfellow, John H. People from Atchison, Kansas Physicians from Kansas People from Kansas Territory American proslavery activists 19th-century American newspaper editors Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni People from St. Joseph, Missouri People from Carrollton, Missouri People from Culpeper County, Virginia Confederate States Army officers 1819 births 1905 deaths Editors of Kansas newspapers

See also

References